The Wolf and the Gentleman
by theSNKoreo
Summary: It has been a month since Deep Blue's defeat, but a new threat is lurking about and it is stronger than what the Mew Mews are prepared to fight. With Ichigo Momomiya away, Zakuro Fujiwara is left in charge. However, the situation takes a dangerous turn when the threat becomes interested in Keiichiro. What is Keiichiro's secret and how will it help the Mew Mews save the world again?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything about and/or any character(s) of Tokyo Mew Mew/Mew Mew Power.**

**A/N: First Tokyo Mew Mew fanfic! I didn't give much focus this OTP before, but now I love it. Both of them are my favourite Tokyo Mew Mew characters.**

**Important to note (for those of you who are accustomed to the English dub):**

**Ichigo = Zoey Hanson**

**Mint = Minto = Corina Bucksworth**

**Lettuce = Retasu = Bridget**

**Pudding = Purin = Kikki**

**Zakuro = Renee Roberts**

**Masaya Aoyama = Mark**

**Ryou Shirogane = Elliot Grant**

**Keiichiro Akasaka = Wesley J. Coolridge III**

**Masha = Mini Mew**

**Kisshu = Quiche = Dren**

**Pie = Sardon**

**Tart = Tarb**

**~Happy reading!~**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter One: The Lone Wolf <strong>

"Is it finally closing time?" whined Pudding. For once, she was out of breath, lying tiredly across the sleek surface of one of the café tables.

"This day has been especially busy," remarked Lettuce, resting a hand on Pudding's sore shoulder gently. She turned her head in my direction. "Don't you think so, Zakuro onee-chan?"

I nodded. That might have had to do with the fact that Keiichiro had created new recipes and had wanted to try them out. Today, the Mew Mews had to serve free samples and they were gone as quickly as customers had arrived.

An exaggerated sigh escaped the lips of someone from behind me. I didn't have to look to know that Mint was sitting at the last table with a cup of tea in hand. Faint rings of fatigue had appeared beneath her dark eyes, yet she tried not to show her exhaustion. "I can't believe I'm saying this—but I _really_ miss Ichigo." The mere mention of our former leader's name created a tense ambiance. I knew this was coming from the moment the morning had proved to be quite a handful.

Ichigo had gone to England with her boyfriend, Aoyama, to study endangered species. Her absence left me in charge, but I was not filled with the same enthusiasm and encouragement she had brought to the team. To put it bluntly, I lacked her spunk. As a former ordinary school girl, she was more down-to-earth. Her outbursts had brought a sense of normalcy and lifted the pressure off of being world superheroes.

"Are you girls done serving?" inquired a familiar voice.

All heads jerked up to see a blond-haired boy leaning against the opposite pink wall. His hands were shoved clumsily into his white jeans. His icy blue eyes that could penetrate anyone or anything now blinked back at us with a mix of curiosity and surprise. We weren't the only ones who wished Ichigo to return. Yet, I can now safely say that Ryou's feelings for Ichigo were not as romance-oriented. She was more like a close friend or little sister to him now, more so than Pudding. "I need someone to stay back tonight and tidy the back."

Ah. So this was why Ryou had cornered us. Usually, I departed earlier, leaving one of the younger Mew Mews to clean up the kitchen and surrounding quarters.

"Who usually cleans up?" I questioned.

Ryou's eyes bore into mine. It took a minute before he responded. "Ichigo."

There was a moment of silence again. I couldn't take any more of this somber atmosphere. "Fine. I'll stay."

Mint's eyebrows shot up. "You don't have to, Zakuro onee-chan. Lettuce or Pudding could—."

"Pudding needs to go back home and take care of her siblings, Lettuce needs to finish her homework, and you look like you need some rest," I cut her off sharply. I turned back to see Ryou gazing back at me, but couldn't decipher any of the emotions his eyes betrayed. "I'm the leader now, right? That means Ichigo's duties and responsibilities are assigned to me."

"Are you sure? What if any modelling sessions come up?" His voice was not filled with spite or mockery I would have gotten from any other employers. Instead, his tone was serious and he looked just as weary as the other Mew Mews.

Even though Deep Blue had been defeated a month ago, Chimera were still left behind on earth for us to defeat. However, I was still a Mew Mew and couldn't just yet return to acting or singing. That required working or touring outside of the city. I couldn't ditch the people I have come to call my friends like that. So, I had only been accepting modelling offers. Besides, Ryou had been conducting new experiments and was busy in the lab. He couldn't be bothered with Chimera when he was on the verge of making a scientific breakthrough involving human and animal genetics. If you asked Ichigo, though, she'd tell you the Mew Project deserved a Nobel Prize.

I didn't press further about Ryou's new project and its significance. I knew better than to interrupt a genius at their work.

"I can still choose and cancel my sessions, right?" I countered, offering a small smile that some would describe as a little flirty, but actually held good intention. "Don't worry about it, Shirogane. You look like you could use a little sleep, too."

Ryou looked a little surprised, but quickly returned the smile. "All right then." His shoulders relaxed a bit. "If you're willing to sacrifice a night of make-up and pretty clothes for a maid's uniform and clean-up."

I raised an eyebrow. "I still look good in this, don't I? It'll be like modelling as a maid."

The boy shook his head good-naturedly. "That's my girl," he said underneath his breath as he disappeared into the next room. If there was one thing about Ryou that I really liked, it was the pride and confidence he had in us.

"Thank you, onee-chan!" exclaimed Pudding merrily. She leapt off of the circular, white table and landed on her feet, stretching. "Time to go home and put those little rascals to bed before they get other ideas."

Lettuce laughed. "I don't think your brothers would want to mess with someone like you, Pudding-chan."

"Are you sure you don't need any help, onee-chan?" queried Mint. She had put away her tea cup and was staring at me sadly.

I dismissed her with a wave of my hand. "Go home, Mint. Don't you have a ballet recital coming up?"

She looked like she was going to pout. "Yes, but—."

"But nothing!" cried Pudding, pushing a confused Mint out the café doors with Lettuce trailing behind them. "Good night, Zakuro onee-chan!" she said over her shoulder.

As soon as they had left, I went to the supply closet to retrieve a broom and a washcloth.

This would take a while, considering I had no prior housework experience to lend me some valuable cleaning skills.

…

It had taken nearly an hour to clean the silent hallways. Now that I had finished outside, I put the cleaning tools away and braced myself for washing stacks of china plates.

The light was turned on in the kitchen when I pushed my way through the doors. I saw the numerous piles of plates scattered around the sink counter, but did not complain. Grabbing a plate, I decided to start with my left side to finish one stack. My pale, slender fingers reached for the tap. A steady flow of water splashed onto the plate. Clutching the soapy, lime-green sponge in my right hand and the holding the plate firmly in the other, I began to scrub the crumbs and chocolate mousse off. I was starting to wonder how anyone could leave any bit of food behind when Keiichiro had made it. You couldn't resist his food just like you couldn't be repelled by his charm.

My eyes narrowed slightly when I thought of the comparison I had just made. Like Ryou, I had been one of the rare few who had been immune to Keiichiro's smooth talking, just smiling in amusement at the other Mew Mews as they were unknowingly manipulated into performing tasks swiftly and to the best of their abilities. Now, though, I was not too sure.

When Ichigo had left, I had been required to work closer with Keiichiro on tweaking some aspects of the Mew Project, such as Masha. My recommendations and insight had led to useful improvements with Masha's system efficiency.

I had never been close to Keiichiro before. In fact, Ryou could only say he was. I had been the last Mew Mew to join the gang, so I didn't really have much time to get to know Keiichiro. It wasn't until I had begun aiding him a few times that I had seen beneath Keiichiro's gentle façade.

His passion for science and animals was incomparable to Ryou's. Ryou was more focused on saving the world. His fondness of discussing the relationship of animals, the environment and science gave me insight into how intelligent Keiichiro really was. It was kind of funny. You would never expect a guy who was normally so calm and collected to have so much passion. He reminded me of Aoyama. His interest in protecting the environment was greater than his desire to saving humanity.

But that didn't mean Keiichiro was evil. Quite the opposite, actually.

The gentleman was always kind and helpful, providing encouragement and instilling morale. He kept Ryou more grounded and cooked all of the café food without complaint to serve. When you were hurt or exhausted like Ryou, he expressed his concern, advised you to rest, and prepared you healing foods and drinks.

But it was the fact that he was so enigmatic that drove me crazy. The Mews Mews did not know anything about him except when a Chimera had interfered with his love life.

Unconsciously, my hands tightened their grip on the plates and sponge at the thought of his ex-girlfriend, Rei. I didn't know why. It wasn't out of envy. I just couldn't fathom how she could reject a man like Keiichiro like that. Yet, I had seen traces of regret, pain, and longing in her dark brown eyes when she had hesitated or stalled before finally saying goodbye.

I was no stranger to the opposite gender. Keiichiro was a work of art. The way his silky, long brown hair moved in the summer breeze was enough to make your knees feel weak. His dark gray eyes were mysterious, but filled with enough warmth for you to want to lean into them forever. His facial features were aligned in such a way to give him the good looks of an angel. Although he was paler than Ryou, his skin was flawless and smooth to grab the attention of any marketing team working for a skincare company. He was the epitome of male beauty: tall, handsome, coupled with a wonderful, mature personality. When the Mew Mews looked at him, they didn't see him as an elder brother like Ryou. What they saw was what they would look for in their future husbands.

As if on cue, the subject of my thoughts walked through the kitchen doors. I looked up to see Keiichiro, fresh out of his work uniform, enter the kitchen. He was wearing a stylish blue cardigan over a gray shirt and expensive black jeans that clung tightly to his legs. If any other girl had been here in the spacious room with me now, their eyes would have appreciated the way his pants allowed them to admire his ass without any difficulty.

His mere presence had begun to make me a little nervous. Why was I even thinking about his ass?

Keiichiro paused in the room once he caught sight of me. He looked more inquisitive than surprised. "Zakuro-san? What are you doing here so late?"

To my utter shock, it took me some effort not for my voice to falter under his curious gaze. "Just helping Ryou out," I answered. The shorter my response, the less time I'd have to talk to him and spend my night here at the tacky café.

He smiled and I wished I could look away, but something stopped me from doing so. It was almost as if I was entranced by him. "That's great to hear, but you might want to tie your hair back before washing the dishes."

My eyes widened a little and I stared down to see that the tips of my long, purple hair were wet from the soapy water. "Ichigo usually ties her hair and uses a hairnet before cleaning," he remarked helpfully.

Great. So I was now being compared to the careless ditz of the Mew Mew team.

"I don't have a hairband," I said, also mentally acknowledging that no one knew where Ichigo stored and got her hairnets from. To my confusion, he chuckled at my casual remark.

He walked towards me, his eyes never leaving my face. My body went rigid as I felt his hand brush against the soft skin of my neck. Gracefully, Keiichiro ran his hand through my glossy hair, holding it away from my head. With his left hand, he untied the black ribbon that was holding his silky, straight hair together with ease. With that single move, his hair was released from its hold and fell smoothly like a waterfall down his shoulders. I had never seen him with his hair untied before, but he should do it more often.

Then, he tied my hair back into a lovely bun using the same ribbon. "There," he said softly. I could almost blush at the proximity of his face near mine. _Almost._ I knew he would've done the same thing to any other Mew Mew in my circumstances.

With a tilt of his head, he regarded me as if I was a new recipe he had tried out and I had turned out the way he had hoped the recipe would've.

His hair fell around his face in such a way that gave him a different edge. How the hell had Keiichiro gone from being what Ichigo would call a handsome cutie pie to what Mint would gush as being a sexy hunk? All from just having untied his hair in a matter of seconds. Never mind me. Keiichiro might as well be the runaway model.

"Are you all right?" he asked, noticing how silent I had gone while staring intently at him. I was beginning to feel embarrassed. Damn. Keiichiro could make me feel things I wasn't accustomed to feeling all in one night.

"What? Oh. Yeah." He moved away from me and I was starting to grow more comfortable. "I'm not used to working so late."

"You could use some rest after today," he suggested, opening a beige-colored cabinet overhead to retrieve a manila folder that Ryou probably required. He shut the cabinet. "I might need your assistance tomorrow with Masha."

"Sounds okay to me," I replied.

He smiled at me one last time. "Good night, Zakuro-san."

I nodded, watching him leave. I returned to finishing the task of washing disks after he left.

So my hunch earlier had been correct.

Keiichiro did have a _fine_ ass.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Just to clear up some confusion if you had any, Rei is Chryse from episode 14 (Keiichiro's/Wesley's ex-girlfriend who studies butterflies). And for those of you who think it was kind of vague about what Masha/Mini Mew's system improvements are, you'll find out about them more in the later chapters.**

**Let me know what you think :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: An update! **

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER TWO: MEW SNOOZE, MEW LOSE<strong>

"Zakuro Fujiwara?" a voice I didn't want to hear queried in surprise.

I glared at the gorgeous blonde who was sitting at the table, halfway finished her strawberry cheesecake. She was wearing a flowing red maxi dress with a fashion magazine clutched in her manicured hand. Her forest-green eyes looked me up and down. Finally, she sneered. "So the rumors are true. You've quit acting for…_this?_" Her companions laughed to her great pleasure.

Usually, if there was a pesky girl or two, then Ichigo would've been the one to deal with them. But I knew I had to deal with Akane Himura, a self-proclaimed acting rival of mine, myself.

When I didn't answer, she gloated. "I'm in Tokyo for two nights, you know. I secured a role in a Hollywood movie and I'm flying first-class after I'm finished promoting the movie here." She batted her thick eyelashes at me. "Guess who I'm starring with? Joey Devine. Remember when we were younger and were fighting over who'd get a part in a Devine film first? I think I've just won that bet, Zakuro-_chan_." Joey Devine had been one of our idols when we were little. Akane and I had argued over who would work with him first. That was the time when we both shared the same agent. Fortunately, I have a different one now.

"I don't have time to think about childish bets," I responded coldly. "And I'm sure you don't either. You should concentrate on perfecting your lines."

She jeered at me. "What happened to the hot-headed Little Miss Fujiwara who couldn't resist coming up with cool comebacks? I see your creativity has left you. No wonder you can't get an acting gig anymore."

I clenched my fist. I had stopped being so hot-headed after the _incident_. When I was little, I could've given Ichigo a run for her money with my quick temper.

"And you're still single?" demanded one of her snobby friends, a redhead dressed in a strapless floral dress that had way too much glitter to be dubbed casual. "That's so sad. Don't worry about it, Zakuro-chan. Not everyone can be as beautiful and good with men."

I couldn't help myself. I despised Akane. She was one of those people who were famous without any hard work or talent put in. "Why are all of you dressed so elaborately? Are you not getting any red carpet appearances so you've stooped to dressing up just to eat at a small café?"

The trio narrowed their hateful eyes. "Be careful, Fujiwara," hissed Akane. "Or I'll tell your boss that you aren't treating your customers well. Then what job would you have after?"

Normally, I would have stopped there and carried on, not wasting my time with people like them. But, I knew that I couldn't get fired—if that was what Akane was implying. Instead, I folded my hands behind my back. "Go ahead and do whatever you want," I replied neutrally.

Akane did not back down from the challenge. "You'll wish you hadn't messed with me, Fujiwara." Messed with her? If she wanted to imagine the situation up, she could do so as she pleased. I didn't care.

"Excuse me, miss," she said to a passing Lettuce, who was trying to balance a bunch of dishes using only her arms. Slowly and carefully, Lettuce looked over to see Akane smirking at her. "Could you please get the manager? I would like to discuss with him or her about Zakuro's poor attitude towards the café's guests."

Lettuce's eyes widened behind her round glasses. She peered at me, not knowing what to do. I nodded for her to go and fetch Ryou. If Akane thought I was rude, I couldn't wait to see her reaction to Ryou's crabbiness.

Finally, Lettuce snapped out of thoughts and strolled past us. Akane, on the other hand, was grinning to her heart's content. If it had been Ichigo in my position, Ryou may have gotten annoyed with her and apologize profoundly to the customers. But I was not Ichigo. Since I was more mature and responsible, I knew Ryou would dismiss the complaint against me immediately.

A couple more seconds passed before I glimpsed the change of expressions on the three girls' faces. They seemed to be filled with awe. "He's soooo cute!" gushed the redhead. The brunette to her right nodded ecstatically. "Totally dreamy. What do you think, Akane?"

"I could drool all day just staring at him!" she giggled.

I raised my eyebrows at their immature behaviour. Ryou was good-looking enough to attract a lot of people's attentions, but the fact that it reduced them to childish excitement was beyond me. I thought they would've liked to act more maturely.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Lettuce bustling about, attending to the other customers. Pudding had taken the day off to spend time with her siblings and Mint would be here after her private school ended. When she caught my eyes watching her, I flashed an appreciative smile. She blushed and went back to taking orders.

"Pardon me, ladies," a familiar voice said from right behind me.

To the happiness of the trio, my eyes widened a little as I recognized it was not Ryou whom Lettuce had fetched. I stiffened, realizing that Keiichiro's body behind mine. I could almost feel the contours of his lean muscular chest against my slender back. His sweet breath had tickled the top of my head. His voice sounded different. It was huskier and more tempting, but held the right amount of sternness to hint to any prey that they should run.

Shit. How had I momentarily forgotten that although Ryou was the owner of the café, the manager and runner of operations was Keiichiro? That would mean all complaints were handled by him while Ryou analysed data at the back.

With Ryou, I had been sure I could've escaped punishment. Keiichiro, on the other hand, was a different story. Just from the tone of his voice I could expect trouble.

"It's no trouble at all," assured Akane, trying to regain control of the situation. It was almost laughable. As soon as Keiichiro had entered the room, he would be the one deciding the outcome.

Akane's green eyes shone like glinting emeralds under the moonlight. "I'm sorry to say that one of your employees is having difficulty serving your guests adequately. Her attitude is ruining the experience of this café. I suggest replacing her with a more generous waitress."

I did not make any abrupt movements as Keiichiro came beside me. _Just breathe, Zakuro, _I told myself. I could not believe how someone like him was undoing my calm and reserved nature in a matter of seconds when it had taken me years to master my emotions. At least I wasn't like Ichigo, who definitely would've sprouted her cat ears and tail by now.

"I see," said Keiichiro, maintaining the same tone that was wracking my nerves. I didn't look up to see his facial expression. Akane couldn't win yet.

Suddenly, I found myself wondering why I was even getting caught up with Akane. When had I started to care about beating others so badly? When had I started turning into Ichigo? Was this what was becoming of me now that I was the leader?

"I apologize, ladies, for my employee's poor behaviour and disrespect towards all of you," remarked Keiichiro, changing his tone. His voice sounded deeper and alluring. I knew better than them to know that Keiichiro wasn't entirely sincere about his apology. He was probably more ticked off with me at the moment.

The girls were eating it up like candy. I could practically see tiny hearts soaring in their eyes. They were melting faster than snow on a sunny summer day.

He moved in front of me and offered his hand to a stunned Akane. "My, aren't you just beautiful? Not even Aphrodite could compare." I was going to lose my patience if he was going to continue to flatter them.

"If you would be kind and allow me the honor of making it up to you," he said. Her face turned as red as ripe tomatoes. "Would the three of you like to try our newest delectable dessert? I can give you a tour of the kitchen where all the desserts are prepared as well."

All three giddy girls nodded mindlessly. They were under his spell for good now.

Smiling, Keiichiro helped Akane to her feet. "Thank you so much for giving our café a second chance. If you could go ahead and wait by the kitchen doors, I'll be with you in a couple of seconds."

"Of course!" they chimed simultaneously. Happily, Akane brushed past me. "Let's go, girls!" she exclaimed. The redhead and brunette ran in her footsteps towards the kitchen excitedly.

"Uh…" I looked on as they disappeared around the corner.

"Zakuro." My body went stone-still as his mouth was near my ear. It was the first time he had said my name without an honorific. He was using the same tone that had sent chills down my spine two minutes ago. "Please come and see me after I'm done with the guests."

I turned my head finally and looked up to see Keiichiro's solemn, expressionless face. There was something dangerous in those gray eyes of his.

"Yes, sir," I said, refusing to be caught off guard.

He looked at me for a second longer before turning his back to me. I watched him leave before sitting down on the brunette's chair to think about what had just happened.

I could use an Advil right now.

**…**

"Zakuro onee-chan's been like this for some time now," whispered Mint, her eyes glancing pleadingly at Ryou, who had come out of the downstairs lab a minute ago for his break.

"I'm sure she's thinking about ideas for her photo shoot, Mint," responded Ryou reassuringly. "She has to adjust her schedule now that she's staying after hours to clean up." Usually, whenever one of the girls was having trouble with their personal lives, he stayed out of it and let them work as a team to help each other out. With Ichigo gone, however, he would have to step in as the soothing, older sibling. "Go on and help Pudding with the last couple of customers. I'll go talk to Zakuro and make sure everything's all right, okay?"

Mint hesitated before nodding and running off to assist Pudding with the last orders of the day.

I had stopped staring into space a long while ago, knowing very well it was quite uncharacteristic of me. Instead, I had begun helping Mint serve one side of the café. Helping was actually an understatement. I had practically taken over for her, serving each customer politely and even smiling widely sometimes. I think Mint must've gotten worried because as soon as Ryou had entered the room, she flew to him to discuss my odd behaviour. I was normally known for just dropping different orders to random customers and forcing them to be silent and enjoy their meal. It wasn't like I meant it. I needed to keep a cover so people wouldn't recognize that I was really the famous celebrity, Zakuro Fujiwara. Now, though, I was blowing my cover all because Keiichiro's words had nerved me.

"Hey there," he said, breaking me out of my thoughts after he had witnessed me acting like a cheery sunshine girl on a kids' show to a guest.

Blinking, I stared up at him in surprise. "Shirogane? What are you doing?"

He smirked. "I think that's a better question for you. Mint told me you've been acting weird for an hour now. Are the customers finally getting that interesting? Maybe I should start working out here like you guys."

I ignored the sarcasm. "I think I've upset Keiichiro."

"Keiichiro?" he echoed, his sly smile vanishing from his face.

I explained to him my situation, watching closely as his face went from amusement to bewilderment.

"Huh," he remarked after I finished, rubbing his chin. "Ichigo did worse things trying to protect Lettuce from her bullies. Keiichiro was fine then."

"So what you're saying is, Keiichiro's okay if Ichigo screws around, but when I do, he gets pissed off."

"He doesn't sound entirely pissed off. Maybe you've misjudged him. But I will say that Keiichiro and I have higher expectations of you than the rest of the Mew Mews. You're a role model for them, Fujiwara."

"So that makes everyone else free to do whatever they want?" I demanded, not angrily but more out of curiosity.

"No. I never said. I meant that since you're the leader now, everyone looks up to you for instructions. You're holding the team together now. Keiichiro and I need you to be mature about this." He crossed his arms behind his head. "I wouldn't say he's mad, more like disappointed."

"Shirogane-san," a quiet voice interrupted.

"Eh?" Ryou looked sideways to see that Lettuce had crept up behind him. She held a plate of an exquisite-looking turkey sandwich on a silver platter.

"I've heard you were on your break," she elaborated, blushing. "A-and I thought…a-after that all that hard work, surely you must be hungry?" Without saying anything more, she pushed the tray in front of Ryou and bowed her head in anticipation. However, her glasses rolled off the bridge of her nose, falling through the large gap between her head and the platter and onto the mahogany floor.

"Oh!" she cried, looking around frantically but still managing to hold firmly onto the platter of food.

Ryou smiled at her and bent down to pick up the glasses that were in front of her shiny black shoes. Rising, he chuckled and took his free hand to lift her chin.

Her face flushed at the contact, feeling Ryou's thumb stroke the side of her chin. He then slid the glasses onto her face, brushing a few strands of green hair that were in the way. "You need to be more careful," he said. "You're lucky it didn't shatter."

"I—I'm sorry, Shirogane-san," apologized Lettuce.

"That's okay." He accepted the food and took the platter in his hands. "But this looks like too big of a sandwich for me to finish by myself. Do you want to share it with me?"

"I—." She looked past him and sought my eyes for her next step. Smiling, I nodded in approval for her to go and eat with Ryou. "Yes, I'll eat with you," she concluded.

"Good. Let's sit at the back so that we don't disturb the remaining customers."

The smile never left my face as I glimpsed Ryou and Lettuce sitting across from each other, both of them happy. It was nice to see them together, enjoying themselves for once. Ryou looked healthier than he had in days while Lettuce seemed surer of herself. Since Ichigo and Aoyama officially became a couple, Ryou's feelings changed overtime. I was certain that he had always liked Lettuce, but those emotions had become stronger now.

A part of me, however, envied them just like I had been a little jealous of Ichigo and Aoyama. As an entertainer, my life had been busy the moment I had decided my career. It wasn't difficult for me to get boys, but I was wary of every person who wanted to be romantically linked to me. Mint's assumptions about me had been wrong. My dating life was non-existent unlike the other Mews. Lettuce was hooking up with Ryou. Even when Tart had left the earth, Pudding was being spoiled by her fiancé in China, Yuebin Ron. She would occasionally bring him up whenever he sent a gift overseas as a token of his love. Meanwhile, Mint had been blabbering on about a new, cute boy at her school and how he was trying to win over her affection to no avail.

I had planned to change that after the defeat of Deep Blue, but other things had come up, leaving me with no time to date. It didn't matter to me, though; because I hadn't met anyone I was interested in having a long-term relationship with. It didn't help that I was developing something of a crush on Keiichiro when I shouldn't be.

Getting up, I decided it was time to face my fear. Akane's clique had left the café a while ago, but Keiichiro was in the kitchen preparing the final orders of the day.

_Maybe he forgot, _I mused to myself. Hopefully his disappointment with me had subsided.

"Keiichiro-san?" I queried, closing the doors behind me. He looked up from the cake he was decorating. His old, blank apron had been swapped for another that had the words 'Kiss the Cook' printed across the front. "You wanted to see me."

"Yes, I did." He put down the tube of vanilla icing. "Did you know those girls?"

I chewed on my lower lip. "They're not friends of mine." At least it was the truth.

He walked around the table. "That's not the issue, Zakuro." My eyes widened as I realized he wasn't wearing a shirt underneath his apron. At least he had pants on or my wolf ears would have popped up for sure. Has this what it's come to? Am I finally paying for my lack of comingling with guys?

The apron clung suggestively to his upper body, which I could see was more muscular than I had initially given credit for. "That was Akane Himura. If she gives a negative opinion of our café's service, then we won't have enough customers to sustain the business. We use the profit we make to fund Ryou's experiments. The Shirogane family fortune is not so vast that it has no limits." Well, Keiichiro saving them was good for publicity.

"Why aren't you wearing a shirt?" I countered, changing the topic. This didn't really have to do with finances. There was something else Keiichiro was getting at, but there was no way I was going to back down from his challenge. I had the instincts of a wolf. I was more than capable of handling him.

"Your 'acquaintances' were learning to bake when I was giving them a tour. Unfortunately, they were not as skilled as I was with a stove," he replied coolly, not breaking away from my stare. "I had to pull them back, but I wasn't as fast as I thought. The fire from the pan had caught the sleeve of my shirt. Unfortunately, I don't have a spare."

My eyes widened. Not only had I selfishly disappointed Ryou and Keiichiro, but because of my inappropriate behaviour, Keiichiro had come close to being burned alive. I stared down, narrowing my eyes in concentration at my shoes. I couldn't cry here. Not in front of Keiichiro. I was the Alpha, but I had failed to look out for my pack. If Keiichiro had gotten injured…

My shoulders sagged. "I'm sorry," I said, so softly that you would have to strain your neck to hear. "I know I disappointed you," I continued, my voice filled with fury at myself. "And I almost hurt you badly—."

"Zakuro-san," said Keiichiro calmly, placing a hand comfortingly on my shoulder. Gazing up, I saw his gray eyes looking back at me with apprehension. His voice grew soft and genuine. I knew I wasn't being charmed out of crying. "You didn't hurt me," he affirmed. "But you should've known better than to pick a childish fight. We need an adult to lead the team."

Ouch. Keiichiro had called me a child. That hurt like hell.

"Zakuro!" someone shouted. Keiichiro and I spun around to see an agitated Ryou at the door. His eyes wandered to Keiichiro's hand, but didn't say anything. I managed to shrug myself out of Keiichiro's grasp before he continued, "Masha sensed something dangerous. You and the rest of the Mews need to check it out!" He turned to Keiichiro. "We need to stay behind and lock the café. We can catch up to the girls later, but we need to get the customers out first."

Nodding, I ran past Ryou, ignoring Keiichiro.

My heart thumped swiftly in my chest like a drum as the other Mews tagged behind me. Once I was in action, all thoughts regarding my personal life evaded my mind.

Whipping out my golden pendant, I began the Mew transformation.

It was about to get real.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: And now we will delve into the plot next chapter! **


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: MEW THREAT**

"Where is it, Masha?" asked Lettuce, looking up at the hovering machine Ryou had created to detect the presence of Chimera.

There was a tiny beep before Masha recited the precise coordinates of the threat. The Mews glanced over to Lettuce as she bent her head down in concentration, her mind trying to process the information. "That's at the park!" she suddenly cried.

Mint's eyes widened. "The park?"

"Hopefully no one will be there at this time," responded Lettuce anxiously. "If there are, we need to evacuate the citizens to safety."

Everyone nodded in agreement with her recommendation.

"How many of those Chimera do you think are still roaming around Tokyo?" inquired Mint, seeking eye contact with me.

"I don't know, Mint," I responded truthfully.

"There's something I don't understand," said Lettuce. "I don't think Kisshu and the others left that many Chimera behind. Even if they did, wouldn't they be attacking the city and the people altogether? I just find it strange that these attacks are happening at random. Chimera don't need to be provoked in order to ravage the environment."

This caught my attention. I gazed sideways at the shy, green-haired girl. "Did you confront Ryou about this?"

"Er, no," she hastily replied, dodging a streetlight pole. "I didn't think—."

"Well, your input will not harm anyone," I pointed out. "I think it's time for you to raise you concern with him."

"Yeah," piped Pudding, who had been quiet for some time now. She sprinted forward, taking the lead. "It's getting annoying fighting these Chimera without the aliens here."

"We're here!" shouted Lettuce, attracting our attention.

As we came to a halt, our heads spun back and forth, searching for the Chimera. Meanwhile, Masha was hovering above us, letting out quiet noises indicating the presence of a threat.

The park was nearly empty. Tall, emerald-green trees bordered the grounds. The red swings blew eerily in the cold autumn wind and the plastic yellow slides remained uninhabited. It was almost like a ghost-town, save for the cloaked person sitting on the wooden bench.

It was that same person who caused a sudden drop in temperature.

His silhouette was that of a human's: two arms, two legs, a head and body to go with. His long, snow-white hair dropped like a waterfall to his waist. His skin was gray and patchy, and the dark purple eyes were hauntingly inhuman, shaped like sideways teardrops. The nose was pointed and stern, the mouth wide and taunting. The creature had no teeth and was occupied by something else.

A creature shaped like a jellyfish was floating near his outstretched hand. The black cloak he wore was long, shielding his body from view. There was something regal about it despite its plainness.

"Hey!" exclaimed Pudding incredulously. "Who is _he?_"

"I don't know, Pudding," answered Lettuce. "But it can't be good. He's holding one of those pre-Chimera forms! He can infuse it with anything he wants to and create disaster."

"_Hey_," I called, adopting an icier tone. It worked and his head snapped up, staring at me with a mixture of bewilderment and anger. Pulling out my cross weapon, I held it forward so that the tip was pointing at his face. "Stop right there."

The male creature released a hiss, glowering.

"Unknown danger detected!" proclaimed Masha.

"_Unknown?_" echoed Mint. "So that _thing_ has nothing to do with the Chimera Anima or the aliens?"

The so-called "thing" raised its hand dramatically. We held our breaths as the arm went soaring down and the ground shook as he almost zapped us. Luckily, we all ran in opposite directions, escaping the path of destruction.

"Zakuro!" shouted a familiar voice.

Alert, I turned my head over my shoulder and saw Ryou running towards the scene. He was wearing a designer blue jacket over his black top. Beside him, Keiichiro had slipped into Ryou's leather jacket. The two of them looked determined.

Just ahead of me, the creature spun around to see the leaders of the Mew Project enter the park. It was what he did next that shocked me.

Gazing at them, the dark expressions in his face drained. He then cried out in a language that was not recognizable. In a blink of an eye, he was gone. A rift had appeared and disappeared as quickly as he had left.

"Are you girls all right?" he asked, half out of breath.

"We're all right," I confirmed. Mint, Lettuce and Pudding had gathered after separating from me briefly. "But that tree isn't."

The tree had been burnt to a crisp at the bark, the roots damaged. The bottom tree branches were like thin, pointy sticks, stripped of their protective bark covering. Some of the pea-green leaves had been torn and blackened near the mid-section. The color of the tree was no longer dark brown, but surprisingly, a lighter, reddish color. _Why isn't it black? _I mused. Apparently, that was the least of their concern.

Pudding gulped behind me. "That could've been us."

**…**

Ryou had called it a day after hearing our feedback about the mysterious being. As a matter of fact, he decided to give tomorrow the day off in order to analyse the damaged tree better.

It was a relief to go home and rest for the girls, but I was only more puzzled by the occurrence. Deep in thought, I tried to connect the pieces together—only, there weren't enough pieces for me to fully grasp the situation presented before us. Who had the guy been? Why was he holding a potential Chimera Anima? Did he know what it was and what it was capable of? Was he related to Deep Blue?

Sitting in front of the mirror, I absent-mindedly unclipped a couple of hairpins holding my bangs back. I was lost in my thoughts when my eyes ran astray and glimpsed the velvet-like black ribbon lying near a red lipstick.

Slowly, I reached for the ribbon, even more confused than ever. That man who had appeared out of nowhere had left when he had spotted Ryou and Keiichiro running up the hill as backup.

At least, that was the explanation the other Mew Mews had given.

But I had been closer to the cloaked person and had seen that it wasn't Ryou who had scared him. His eyes had merely dismissed Ryou as a pesky annoyance.

It had been Keiichiro who had made the man nervous.

_But why? _I asked myself. Why had Keiichiro been the pushing point for the enemy?

Something told me there was more than met the eye.

Taking the ribbon into my palm, I examined it more closely. Maybe I had been overthinking things and springing to conclusions when I had no evidence to back up my theory. But I had never been wrong about these sorts of things before. I knew what I had witnessed. My perception and instincts were the best of the Mew Mews.

I decided not to confide with Ryou for now until there was more proof.

**…**

Not a lot of people knew that Ryou was a genius.

He didn't need to prove to anyone that he wasn't a spoiled brat. Ryou never cared. He had always wanted to use his sharp intellect to change the world.

The environment had always fascinated him when he had been younger. It wasn't just his father who had influenced his interests.

He had never been a sociable child. He preferred to watch the rain shower on the city or examine a butterfly. He loved the purity of it. Nature was authentic, beautiful and giving.

But Keiichiro had opened his eyes to the cruel reality, that most people took advantage of the earth for their own selfish needs.

When he had discovered the true reason behind the aliens' visit to Earth, he was not unsympathetic towards them.

However, Ryou knew that it was next to impossible to reverse the disastrous effects of mankind on earth. It was why he always likened to the idea that more education was needed to sustain the environment. It was the key to humanity's survival.

Keiichiro, on the other hand, had disagreed.

That was why Keiichiro had caught his attention many years ago. Gifted students had often dropped by and assisted his father with research, but none of them had been as passionate or determined as Keiichiro had been. None of them had fully grasped the goal of Dr. Shirogane's research, and none of them had cared as much for the earth.

Ryou had never regretted Keiichiro becoming his research partner. The Mew Project had been troublesome for them both, especially because the costs had skyrocketed and both of them had studied abroad. Opening up the café had eased the financial burden.

Their latest project—an extension of the Mew Project—involved combining the DNA of two endangered animals together and infusing that DNA with a human's. Unfortunately, it was taking longer than expected to develop the project. In addition, the machinery and equipment were expensive and the medicine that Ryou took to sustain his health after injecting himself with cat DNA in the early stages of the Mew Project wasn't getting any cheaper. To make matters worse, more research needed to be conducted on their latest threat—the thing that had attacked the girls in the park.

Taking off his glasses, Ryou pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. The room was dark and he was becoming tired. He had already sent Keiichiro home, much to his protests, to rest. Being workaholics had taken the toll on both of their sleep.

The results from the tree sample wouldn't be ready until the morning. That gave him some time to think, at least.

Timidly, Ryou ran his fingers through his hair as he stared at the data sheet from the last experiment.

Suddenly, a strange emotion washed over him. He sensed that he was no longer the only one present in the room. Now that Ryou had some cat DNA, his instincts had sharpened considerably.

Jerking his head back, he saw Lettuce standing shyly with her hands clasped together a few feet from him. She was wearing a cotton beige cardigan over a maroon tank top. Her black skirt flared beneath her narrow hips.

"Did you forget something?" he questioned finally, his aqua-blue eyes regarding her with some interest.

Biting down on her lower lip, she looked down at her brown sandals uncertainly. She didn't know how to approach him about the issue.

Out of all the Mews, Lettuce had to be the least uncomfortable around Ryou. That would've been understandable had she just joined the team. After all, Ryou was definitely not Mr. Congeniality. Yet, months had passed and all the Mew Mews had grown accustomed to Ryou's rudeness and sarcasm. His stubbornness rivaled Ichigo's and he sometimes teased the Mews as his way of showing affection. Other times, he would be serious, warning them about the dangers of fighting the aliens and Chimera Anima.

Ryou would have to be more patient with Lettuce. Not that he minded. Patience was one of his strong points. It came to him easily after learning with Keiichiro and doing lab work.

"Is there something that's bothering you?" he asked, his tone gentler.

Gazing up, Lettuce saw that Ryou had quietly risen from his seat on the black rolling chair. His face did not betray his thoughts.

"I—." Lettuce took a deep breath. _Remember what he said. Confidence. _"I wanted to speak to you about the Chimera Anima the aliens have left behind." She paused, expecting Ryou to reject her proposal entirely. Instead, he merely stared at her, waiting for more information.

"This has been bugging me since two weeks ago," she continued. "I've been wondering why, if the aliens had left Chimera behind, they haven't all attacked at once? They have no minds of their own, so it seems the likely thing to do, given their dark nature. It also seems like when we take one Chimera down, more appear, but they can't reproduce, can they?" Closing her eyes, she wondered if she had rambled too much, but when the scolding never came, she reopened them and saw that Ryou had returned to the computer.

_Is he ignoring me now? _

Her mind was at a loss at whether she should leave before she endured any humiliation or to wait and see what Ryou would do with her. Finally, Ryou said, "Lettuce, come over here for a sec."

Heart thumping in her chest, she strolled forward, standing behind Ryou's left shoulder. He had opened up another window on the screen. This time, it featured a few yellow dots scattered across a green region.

"These were the detected Chimera Anima signals during the first week after Deep Blue's defeat," he remarked. Then, he clicked the mouse and more dots appeared. "This was the situation two weeks later." He glanced up at Lettuce. "You're not wrong. They have been multiplying. I haven't told the rest of the Mews yet because I don't have a reason to explain this duplication if there aren't any aliens left in Tokyo."

The girl blinked. "So…there's nothing we can do about this?"

"For now, the best way is to finish the Chimera off when they appear. But that's not decreasing their numbers like you've said. Not to mention, that guy that was in the park seemed to be collecting Chimera. I can't confirm the connection between him and the growing Chimera just yet. More evidence is needed before we can act upon this."

"I hate not knowing what's going to happen," Lettuce sputtered, reddening.

"I know. We're just going to have to wait even if it means we'll be sitting ducks." Closing the window, Ryou stretched his arms. "Is there anything else you wanted to see me about?"

"No, but…" Lettuce summoned all the courage she could and looked him in the eye. "But you need to take better care of your health, Shirogane-san. You're the head of this project, but you've been working yourself too much." Her voice had been shaky, but she hoped the message had gotten across.

Ryou stared at her in surprise for a couple of seconds before smiling. "Don't worry about me. I can handle the stress." He rose, leaning forward. Lettuce began to blush at how little personal space there was between them. "Just be more careful from now on, all right?"

Before Lettuce could properly process what had happened, he was gone, leaving her in a flurry of heat and feelings.

**…**

Modelling for a new clothing line was no problem for me.

"That's it!" exclaimed the bald photographer enthusiastically as he snapped the camera. Titling my head back ever so slightly, I flashed a small smile in the strapless, floral-printed dress that dangled to my knees. It was a very nice periwinkle color that I was positive Mint would adore.

I was glad for once that the makeup concealed my fatigue. The bright red-lipstick smeared across my lips stole the attention away from the very faint rings under my eyes. I hadn't been able to get a proper night of sleep. Instead, I had lied awake trying to make sense of the other day. My thoughts lingered on the cloaked man. I wondered if Ryou had come up with anything yet from the tree sample.

"Beautiful!" the photographer yelled, taking another snapshot. "Now let's try another pose to capture the dress's most unique feature—."

I didn't get a chance to hear what—according to him—was the best part of the dress. A member of security, dressed in a black suit and matching shades, ran into the room.

"What is it?" he hissed, lowering the camera from his muddy brown eyes.

"There's someone who is demanding to speak with Zakuro Fujiwara," muttered the security guard. That caught my attention.

"And you didn't turn them away?" snapped the photographer.

"I can't. They are related to Ryou Shirogane. He's one of the richest in Tokyo."

"Then we're going to have to take a break," sighed the photographer. He turned to me. "You don't mind if we postpone this shoot, darling?"

I shook my head. "It's fine."

The guard offered to take me outside, but I politely refused. On the way out, I grabbed my original clothes from the purple change room, folding them into my rose-pink duffle bag.

The weather outside was nice and sunny. There was not a single cloud hanging in the light blue sky. Cars whizzed back and forth and there were a handful of pedestrians taking a morning stroll, their eyes occasionally darting towards what was held in the glass showcases of the shops across the street. The wind gradually picked up and lifted the hem of the sundress I was still wearing so that it rose just a bit above my knees. Some of the companies I modelled for, like the one I was modelling this dress for, were generous enough to allow me to keep one of the clothes in their clothing line. I guess I would be keeping this one since I hadn't had enough time to change out of it.

There was a familiar red sports car parked in front of the gray sidewalk. The man standing before it was wearing a casual, crisp black shirt and dark gray pants that matched the color of his eyes. Keiichiro greeted me with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, moving toward him.

"Ryou's having an urgent meeting at the café," he explained. "We couldn't reach you by phone so I contacted your agent and she told me you'd be here. I'm sorry if we're interrupting your shoot, but—."

"It's fine," I cut him off briskly. "I understand." Like the gentleman that he was, he opened the passenger door of the car for me to get in. The backseats could barely fit anyone in, as there were stacks of folders and parcels littered everywhere.

Keiichiro got in beside me, hastily putting on his seatbelt before turning the key and bringing the roaring engine back to life again. He reversed before steering himself into the right direction and then accelerated. My body slammed into the seat as he drove faster, barely escaping traffic or any collisions. It was a wonder how he hadn't been caught by the police yet.

He chuckled. "I apologize for my driving habits. I'm so used to getting where I need to be quickly."

"It's not a problem," I replied, unzipping my bag. Taking out the black ribbon, I zipped my bag afterwards and lay the ribbon across the dashboard. Keiichiro's eyebrows rose, but he did not turn his eyes away from the road. "I forgot to return it to you yesterday."

"About that," he remarked, coming to a sudden halt when the traffic light switched to red. My body propelled forward, but the seatbelt saved me from banging headfirst into the dashboard. He turned to face me. "I realize I had been too harsh on you."

"No, it was my fault," I responded. "I shouldn't have let Akane get to me. I guess this leadership position is getting to me."

He smiled. "You're handling it a lot better than Ichigo-chan did."

"That's still no excuse for my immature behaviour."

"I was only upset because it was someone important. Akane has a lot of power in the industry, regardless of her lack of talent." His grip tightened on the steering wheel. "I can't risk that knowing that her fame could affect our fortune. As I've told you before, the money we make covers the costs of the ingredients, electricity and water. The profit we make after paying for those goes towards Ryou's research. He pays for you girls using his own money. He doesn't have quite the hefty sum he did when we first started the Mew project."

"Was the Mew project_ that_ expensive?" I asked.

He nodded. "Quite. We could have used the equipment Ryou's father had, but those had been destroyed in the fire."

"You said when 'we first started'," I pointed out. "That also means when you guys brought the Mew Mews together. So if the original Mew project is over and Ryou was still rich, what's eating up the rest of the money?"

He turned his attention back to the road when the light switched green and focused on driving us to the café. Finally, when we had exited the busy intersection, he spoke as if someone was choking him.

"Ryou doesn't seem like a person who cares, but he does," he started. "When the Mew project was finished, we had conducted all sorts of calculations to test out the safety of it. Unfortunately, we had not conducted a trial experiment on someone beforehand to see if our calculations were accurate. Ryou took it upon himself to make sure that safety wouldn't be jeopardized and injected himself. However, he could only turn into a cat. As you know, if he stays in his cat form for more than ten minutes, he'll forever be one. Only, that's not the actual problem." He sighed. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but as the new leader of the Mew Mews, you're going to be involved in our research as well, like upgrading Masha."

I waited for him to continue when he slowed down as we neared the street that would lead us to the café.

"He wasn't a compatible test subject. Because of that, there are a lot of biological implications. I'll save you from knowing the complex genetic work and biology behind it. Basically, Ryou's health is no longer certain. At most, he has five years to live. However, there is medicine that we've obtained which can stall the effect. Unfortunately, it's very expensive and is diminishing our funds faster than you girls defeat Chimera."

"Then why bother to pay us at all?" I inquired. "We signed up for the Mew project willingly, so we also obliged to work undercover at the café for free."

He smiled sadly. "That's a nice thought, but we can't do that. Besides, Pudding quit working in the park to earn money at the café to support her family. She can't work at the café _and _the park."

I was about to respond when I saw that Keiichiro had parked the car already. Unbuckling my seatbelt, I opened the door and closed it behind me. Keiichiro walked ahead while I paced myself two steps behind him as we headed towards the café.

He opened one of the doors and gestured for me to go inside. Then, he locked the doors behind us.

The café was vacant. The chairs had been stacked up on top of the tables. The only light that was emitted was coming from downstairs. I could hear voices as we approached the door.

Inside, the room was black and empty except for a gigantic screen onto which Ryou projected information from his findings. Mint, Lettuce and Pudding were in their regular café uniforms, whispering about why they had closed the café so early.

"Welcome back," Ryou said once he saw Keiichiro and me.

The girls paused in their gossiping and saw me come and stand beside them. "Zakuro onee-chan!" cried Mint and Pudding simultaneously.

"I love that dress," gushed Mint.

"Okay, everyone," said Ryou once Keiichiro was at the front as well. "You may be wondering why I've arranged this meeting. It's because the results from the tree sample yesterday in the park have been finalized."

"So did you figure out anything about that guy?" demanded Pudding.

"No, I haven't, except for one thing," he replied. "I took a normal sample of the same tree—the part of it which hadn't been damaged—and the part that was. When we compared the samples, we found something that was in one which wasn't present in the normal sample."

"And what was that?" I asked.

Ryou's icy blue eyes pierced mine. Without any hesitation and his voice unwavering, he answered, "Mew Aqua."

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

***Mew Aqua = Blue Aqua**

**I'm taking some time to develop out their relationships (which explains why the Lettuce/Ryou scene wasn't as "heated" as you guys expected). **

**To ADdude: Thanks so much for your support! I'm having a lot of fun writing this fic. I hope you stay for the rest of the ride! :)**

**To Guest: Here is an update! The next one might take longer as I've got my hands full this week.**

**Thanks for reading! **


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know I said that this update would be up later rather than sooner, but I've decided to divide this chapter into two different chapters.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER FOUR: I GOT A CRUSH ON MEW<strong>

I blinked.

Beside me, the girls chorused, "_Mew Aqua?_" They exchanged anxious looks.

"But how can that be?" asked Lettuce. "None of us felt anything."

"Didn't the aliens take away all the Mew Aqua left on earth, though?" inquired Mint. "How can there be any more left after Deep Blue's revival?"

"So that evil dude with the weird cloak thingy used Mew Aqua in his attack?" questioned Pudding, puzzled.

"We don't know," spoke Keiichiro. "But we can confirm that it was Mew Aqua, but with a strange twist."

"Keiichiro's right," said Ryou. "The Mew Aqua traces from the tree were contaminated. It wasn't as pure and crystalline as the other samples of Mew Aqua. We think that's why it had the reverse effect on the tree."

"Contaminated?" echoed Lettuce.

He folded his arms against his chest. "The Mew Aqua had other chemicals in it. We can't detect which chemicals were present, due to the little amount of Mew Aqua that was present in the tree sample."

"So what does this all mean?" I queried.

"It means we have to brace ourselves for another attack," replied Ryou. "All we can do is wait and see how this plays out. Then, we can make our move. At the moment, we have little to go from."

"Can't we sense the Mew Aqua, go to its location and wait for the enemy to show up?"

"We could've done that, but, like I've said, you girls can't sense contaminated Mew Aqua, only pure Mew Aqua. Besides, if you were to sense pure Mew Aqua, you would've done so by now, which means there's no pure Mew Aqua left in Tokyo.

"In the meantime, be on high alert." He then dismissed us to re-open the café. Fortunately, my café uniform was in the duffle bag I was still clinging to.

"Do you have any idea why the enemy vanished so quickly?" I asked after the rest of the Mews had left.

Ryou shrugged, but I was paying closer attention to Keiichiro's reaction from my peripheral vision. He was looking toward Ryou for some guidance, but the slight narrowing of his eyes didn't escape me.

"Maybe there were too many of us for it to handle," he suggested.

"I'll go and help the other girls with the opening," stated Keiichiro, changing the subject. Ryou nodded his approval. He walked past us and exited without acknowledging me.

So my hunch was not entirely wrong.

Keiichiro was pretending not to any answers—_but why?_

**…**

It had been a week since the meeting. Nothing had occurred since then. The café had resumed back to its normal, bustling self. Keiichiro and I hadn't spoken since I had posed that question to them. It wasn't as if we were avoiding each other, but we simply didn't have enough time in our schedules. Even when I stayed behind to clean up, Keiichiro was either helping Ryou with lab work, or he was elsewhere. It had never crossed my mind that Keiichiro had a social life. After all, wasn't the lack of one the reason why he and Rei had broken up and gone separate ways? But it now occurred to me that that had been when Ryou and him were busy planning the Mew project and helping us defeat Deep Blue. Now, he had plenty more time on his hands. Although he wanted to make some new improvements to Masha, I didn't accompany him to the lab like I used to. My modelling sessions had consumed the time I had reserved for that.

"Did Keiichiro make any adjustments to Masha yet?" I asked when I spotted Ryou in the hallway. Despite what we were told about having to wait, Ryou was trying to gather more data from the tree sample. When that proved too frustrating, he would recommence his work on the new Mew project.

"Masha will be given back to you in two days," affirmed Ryou. "We're trying to adjust him so he can detect contaminated Mew Aqua, if there is any, which can help us get a better grasp of the enemy."

"And the previous adjustments?"

"He's like a floating GPA system now," retorted Ryou. "There's no way you girls can get lost in a forest fighting Chimera now." In one incident, Pudding had gotten separated from us after chasing a Chimera in the woods. It had taken five hours to find her. Nevertheless, Ryou hadn't been too pleased when we had asked him to aid us in our search. We had found her entangled on the branch of a tree near a bird's nest. She had been happier seeing the baby birds than us.

"How much time are you spending in the lab anyways?" I inquired. "This new Mew project you're working on isn't worth it if it's taking a toll on your health or finances."

Ryou never flinched. "So Keiichiro told you about that, huh?"

"He seems worried about you," I responded. "Why wouldn't he be? You haven't taken a break in ages even when the aliens left."

He smirked. "So are you worried about me, too, Fujiwara?"

I smiled. "You're my boss. If you're not doing well, then our team can't either."

"Hmm…you were always my favourite, you know." He crossed his arms behind his head, trying to appear coy.

"I think we both know Ichigo deserves that title."

He raised his eyebrows. "That nosy, annoying brat? I would think you thought better of me and my choices."

"But you miss her, don't you?" The teasing tone was gone. I now stared at him seriously.

"Between me and you, I think we all do," he responded. "But you girls keep me happy and preoccupied. I had to bust Ichigo out of trouble before, now I have to babysit Pudding. When you're not around, Mint's sipping her tea and Lettuce has to do everything."

"Funny. You didn't sound sympathetic or regretful when Ichigo had to work like Lettuce is now."

"That's because Ichigo always complained about doing work when it was part of her job description. She would always go around blaming others and wasting time that she could've been using to clean up. At least Lettuce is mature about her work."

"You know, she's grown quite a lot," I said.

He smiled. It was one filled with genuine pride. "She's amazing. Every time I expect her to stop improving, she does something that surprises me. She has a lot of potential. If she had more confidence in herself and some sternness; she would be an excellent leader."

"Your words wound me, Shirogane," I teased.

"You're not bad yourself, Fujiwara." Uncrossing his arms, he put his hands in the pockets of his pants. "Now back to work."

"Yes, sir," I said with a bit of mock enthusiasm which made Ryou roll his eyes.

When I returned to the main room, Lettuce was occupied with serving some customers while Pudding was sitting atop a unicycle with two plates of strawberry shortcake balanced in her hands. Mint had gone back inside the kitchen with the silver trolley to load more dishes.

A couple of guests had just set foot. They were gazing about in awe. It was their attire that caught me a little off guard.

There were several of them, but the one who attracted the most attention was a young woman in the middle of the group. She had long tresses of auburn hair that framed her heart-shaped, fair face. Her eyes were a lovely sapphire-blue, her lips full and rosy. She was wearing a long-sleeved, black flare dress and matching high heels. I pondered for a minute whether she was a model herself, given the way she carried herself with grace and the fact that she was stunningly beautiful.

Beside her, there were two elder women. One of them was wearing an expensive red blazer over a plain, ivory tank top that brushed her figure-hugging skirt. She had shoulder-length blonde hair and chocolate-brown eyes. The other had curly red hair and wore a simple, pale yellow dress.

The two men accompanying them were handsome for their age. They wore custom-made black suits.

"Excuse me," the girl with the black dress called when she saw me. There was a faint accent that I could not identify, but she her voice was as feminine as she was. "May I speak to the person in charge?"

I nodded and gestured for them to sit down and wait. Turning around, I went to the kitchen. I would not make the same mistake last time. I would summon Keiichiro and not Ryou, who was probably in the middle of an experiment.

When I entered, Mint stared up at me. "Onee-chan!" she cried happily, arranging the plates of dessert on the trolley. I ignored her and looked at Keiichiro, who had stopped decorating a couple of sundaes.

"Someone wishes to see you," I proclaimed.

He looked confused, but set aside the materials and followed me out of the kitchen.

When they saw Keiichiro, the group rose. Beside me Keiichiro bowed. It seemed as if they knew each other.

"Greetings, milady," he said in the same tone had had used to hypnotize Akane and her clique. Taking her palm in his, he leaned down and kissed it. "To what pleasure do I owe from having you and your family grace us with your presence?"

I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. Keiichiro had them wrapped around his finger.

The elder ladies giggled while the younger one smiled. "Why don't we discuss this over tea?"

"Zakuro-san," said Keiichiro, turning to me. "Would you mind bringing us some tea? Mint's prepared enough for all of us."

When I returned to the kitchen, I grabbed another trolley and poured some tea into the tiny china cups. Mint came by and helped me. I let her push the trolley out.

The rest of the customers had been served. From a distance, the Mews and I stood side-by-side each other, watching the scene unfold before us. The group and Keiichiro were sitting and chatting amicably together, oblivious to everyone around them.

"What'd I miss?" asked Ryou nonchalantly, entering the room.

"I think we have a bunch of important guests," replied Lettuce. Ryou followed her gaze. After a couple of seconds, he shrugged.

"Those people are related to a royal family," he explained. "The two elder men are politicians and the women are their wives. The youngest one is the blonde woman's daughter."

"So what are they doing here?" piped Pudding.

"They're old friends of Keiichiro's. He cooked for their party once."

"_Huh?_" Mint and Pudding sputtered.

Ryou raised an eyebrow at them. "How else do you think he paid for his tuition? He's too modest to take money from me."

He then ordered us to go back to work. Pudding seemed curious about the conversation Keiichiro was having with the group, but she kept her distance respectfully, observing from afar. Meanwhile, Mint was complaining about how there weren't any tea bags left to prepare tea for herself. Ryou then gave permission for Lettuce and Mint to shop for ingredients at the grocery store nearby since it wasn't busy. I didn't mind.

Pudding covered the tables surrounding Keiichiro while I served the rest. I didn't mind. As long as I was preoccupied with serving the customers, the day would go by faster.

Still, I was a bit inquisitive myself of the politicians and their families. They seemed relaxed around him, contrary to their regal stance they used when they first appeared at the café.

"Zakuro onee-chan," murmured Pudding, yanking on my arm after I gave a customer the wrong order. She lowered her voice further. "I think Akasaka-san and that girl like each other." She pointed to the back table.

They were sitting beside each other, yet the girl had leaned forward, resting her head on her hand as Keiichiro chatted off about something. "They look normal to me," I claimed.

Pudding frowned. "But she totally likes him! She's so close to Akasaka-san! I wouldn't be too surprised if they kissed."

I gazed at Pudding dully. The girl was either too young to properly analyse the situation or she had picked up Ichigo's skill of jumping to conclusions. It wasn't worth my time anymore to hear her blab about Keiichiro's love life.

"Hey!" snapped Pudding as I turned to walk away. "Where are you going? Don't you want to watch and see what happens?"

"We're paid to work, not eavesdrop," I replied over my shoulder.

She rested her hands on her hips defiantly. "Okay! But when they kiss, I'm not going to give you the details!"

Goodness. How persistent could Pudding get?

**…**

After the café closed, all of us groaned and sprawled out across the chairs. It had been a slow day, much to my disappointment. Even when Lettuce and Mint returned, there hadn't been much to do. Nevertheless, the two girls had been panting from their excursion.

"I don't think I've seen people who look deader than you girls," commented Ryou.

Mint glared at him. "That grocery store was not close at all! Do you know how long it took to get there?!" She had gotten up in his face now, hands curled into fists.

Ryou smirked down at her. "Yeah, well, didn`t I tell you I meant `close` as in a good fifty-minute walk?" This only made her madder.

"Lettuce couldn't even carry all of the stuff herself so I had to help!"

"Good to know the Mew princess is finally pulling her share."

"There wasn`t any herbal tea left at the tiny store anyway!"

"Sorry," he replied, feigning innocence. "I forgot that the store sells out on their drinks fast." With Ichigo gone, Mint and Ryou would often get into fights like this. The only difference was that Ichigo would`ve scolded at him. Mint only shouted complaints, ignoring his teasing.

"I have a surprise for all of you," interrupted Keiichiro, smiling at us. Immediately, Mint stopped shouting at Ryou.

"Is it a yummy cake?" queried Pudding hopefully.

He chuckled. "Not quite. Lady Virginia's daughter, Anastasia, invited us to their family`s grand ball to celebrate their political success. It`ll be held in Tokyo this year."

Lettuce`s eyes widened. "My, this is a great surprise!" she decreed.

"A ball?" cried Mint merrily. "This is just what I need!"

"We`re going to have so much fun you guys!" announced Pudding.

"Are you coming as well, Zakuro-san?" inquired Keiichiro, looking at me imploringly.

"I'm not sure," I stated carefully. "I might have a modelling shoot. I already had to postpone one last week because of the meeting. It depends on how my schedule turns out."

"Why don't you just cancel the shoot?" Ryou proposed. "You look like you could use a break. I don't think the companies will turn down the famous Zakuro Fujiwara's request."

"I'll see," I replied, not wanting to see Keiichiro's expression. "Are we done now? I have to clean up the back." Before anyone could respond, I turned on my shoes and went anyway.

To be honest, I didn't see a point in attending the ball. I knew nothing of the host, Anastasia, and Pudding's insistence that Anastasia more than admired Keiichiro did nothing to change my mind.

Grabbing the mop from the supply closet, I considered whether or not I was envious of Anastasia's relationship with Keiichiro. From what Ryou had said, the two went way back. But I wasn't jealous. How could I be when there was no concrete evidence suggesting more than friendship between the two like Pudding had insisted?

Dumping the mop in the blue bucket filled with water, I began to ponder why I was getting worked up over nothing. I had to admit, I had been seeing Keiichiro in a different light lately, but that didn't mean he regarded me in the same way.

It had been so long since developed something of a crush on someone.

But that didn't mean I was ready to pursue it.

**…**

"Come in," a voice urged gently after I knocked.

Opening the door, I saw Keiichiro with his glasses on, examining Masha. He had asked me to assist him with R2000.

"Hello, Zakuro-san," Keiichiro greeted without looking away.

"What do you need me to do?" I pondered in a monotone voice. Sometimes Masha's advancements made me curious and impressed, other times, not so much.

"I've finished an upgrade and would like your help in testing its effectiveness." I waited until he had re-programmed Masha for him to elaborate on my role in the experiment.

It turned out that Ryou had been right. My task was to hide the tree sample with contaminated Mew Aqua somewhere behind the café. Meanwhile, Keiichiro would be making observations with a clipboard to record Masha's ability on detecting the contaminated Mew Aqua; since it was obvious none of the Mews could do so due to its lack of purity.

When we walked into the hallway outside with Masha clasped in my hands and Keiichiro taking with him a chestnut-colored, leather satchel filled with the necessary tools, Pudding waltzed in front of us. She pumped her fists over her head defiantly.

"Pudding wants to accompany Zakuro-oneechan and Akasaka-san, too!" she declared.

The two of us stared at her with relative surprise, though it didn't show nearly as much on my face as it did on Keiichiro's.

Finally, Keiichiro titled his head and smiled at her. "Well, if the other Mews can handle the front, then of course you can come, Pudding-chan." He moved past her. It was decided then. The runt would be tagging along.

The blonde-haired girl stayed by me as we walked behind Keiichiro. I glanced over at her. "What are you scheming?"

Feigning shock, she pulled back from me. "W-what? Why would you think I'd be planning something, onee-chan?" She stared up at me, pulling off a classic puppy dog face with her watery brown eyes and quivering lip.

"Unlike Ichigo, I can't fall for your cuteness play," I chided. "Whatever it is you're thinking it won't work."

"How can you be so sure?" she demanded.

"Just make sure it doesn't interfere with the experiment."

"Hmph!"

Now it was her turn to sprint ahead, crossed by my stern reaction. Ryou had been incredibly accurate when infusing our DNA with those of endangered species'. Honestly. Pudding must've been a monkey in her past life as well.

"It's sunny!" she hollered, standing one of the tables scattered across the back patio. "This is definitely a good sign!"

"I agree," laughed Keiichiro, setting down his satchel on the other table. "The weather won't interfere with the testing." Let's just say that Masha wasn't nearly as effective as it was in the rain.

After Keiichiro had finished, he directed me to hand Masha over to Pudding—who was eager to cuddle the tiny robot—and gave me a plastic container holding the sample.

"We've diluted the original sample so it won't damage the container," he explained. "Hopefully Masha will be able to detect its presence regardless."

I stared down at the blue container, transfixed by the damaged bark. Maybe that had been why the bark's color was red and not black—the tainted Mew Aqua must have altered the effect somehow.

Then, I walked over to the other side of the grounds, searching for excellent hiding spaces. Unfortunately, my inexperience with hide-and-seek left me with less creative ideas. Ultimately, I stashed the sample at the base of a large cherry tree that had yet to bloom pink. Taking a step back, I memorized the precise location of the container before heading back.

"It's ready," I asserted calmly.

"Great. We can begin," he responded, scribbling some categories down on the clipboard using a black pen. I assumed that it was a rough draft if he didn't have a pencil handy and that he would probably transfer significant points onto a clean sheet of paper.

Pudding released Masha from her arms. She had been cradling the thing for some time now and Masha was keen on flying about.

The experiment was over in less than forty minutes. Keiichiro had been disappointed in the time had taken, but was satisfied that Masha could at least detect any state of Mew Aqua. It had been a miracle that Pudding had remained silent throughout it all.

"There you guys are," remarked Ryou, coming onto the patio from the back door. He was wearing a sleeveless white shirt that resembled the Finnish flag. Only Ryou could pull off something strange like that, but now was not the time to be debating his fashion choices.

He walked over to the table Pudding was at, his hands resting on his hips as stared down at Pudding. "And why exactly are you here slacking off? There's a dirty table with your name on it."

She stuck her tongue out at him which caused him to recoil in disgust. "Scientists don't get to clean tables."

"Nice try, but we all know you aren't exactly known for your intelligence." He smirked. "Tell you what. I'm impressed by your energy level. You can clean the ones outside here as well."

Pudding's shoulders slumped. "Why must Shirogane onii-san be so mean to me?" she whined.

"Maybe if you weren't monkeying around, I'd let your leave work earlier," he informed her, raising an eyebrow incredulously at her mock crying. Although Pudding was a hard worker, she often asked Ryou to finish her shift half an hour before she was supposed to so that she could spend more time with her siblings after picking them up from the daycare.

"Actually, Pudding was assisting us," notified Keiichiro, smiling sheepishly.

Ryou dismissed his claim. "Now back to work. You've annoyed them enough for today."

"Okay, but I'll start with the tables here first." She began searching for a washcloth while Ryou helped Keiichiro put away his tools.

When Keiichiro and Ryou finally started to pack up, it was then that Pudding made her move.

I had been distracted by a cheerful Masha floating around me to notice that she had left her table at first. It was only until Masha finished decreeing its happiness with having found the Mew Aqua that I saw Pudding animatedly talking to Keiichiro. My ears picked up on their conversation quickly.

"Zakuro onee-can and I were watching you and Anastasia-san yesterday!" She could barely say her name correctly.

"Is that so?" Keiichiro looked up and saw me approaching Pudding. Even Ryou had stopped what he had been doing.

So it looked like Pudding had ousted us as stalkers.

Good thing I had been expecting something like this from Pudding. Otherwise, I would've been a bit embarrassed.

"We were disagreeing over whether or not you and Anastasia-san were a couple!" she declared, her voice a mixture of enthusiasm and suspicion.

"That's none of your business," snapped Ryou.

She did her famous monkey face at him, causing him to wince. "I wasn't asking you!"

Keiichiro chuckled. "I didn't know Zakuro-san was interested in stuff like that, too."

"I'm not," I affirmed, but they didn't look convinced. "Pudding was bothering me on your personal life, so I told her we shouldn't assume anything about you guys outside of the friendship you both shared."

"But do you like her, Akasaka-san?" demanded Pudding, balling her hands into fists and gazing up at him starry-eyed. Since Rei and Keiichiro had parted ways, the Mews had been certain that Keiichiro would get back with her later. When Ryou kept denying that possibility, they hoped that Keiichiro would find happiness and love with someone else. To Pudding, that moment had arrived.

"Hmm…" He put a pale index finger to his lips, playfully cautioning her that it would have to be a secret between them. "I think she's beautiful."

"How beautiful?" pressed Pudding. In the background, Ryou groaned and buried his head in his hand. I knew he blamed Ichigo for bringing out the romantic in everyone.

"Very beautiful," he settled after some considering. "She seems as delicate as a swan, but she has a strong will."

"What else do you admire about her?"

"She's quite versatile, fluent in many languages," he said.

"And?"

"She's mature and clever. I can have educated discussions with her."

"And she's rich—just like you!" Pudding declared. Keiichiro laughed. "Yes, you could say the difference in our social statuses is not a lot."

"So she's your type?"

He kneeled down before her and winked. "Let's just keep that between you and me, okay?" he murmured.

Throughout this silliness, I noticed that Ryou had quit being irritated. Instead, he was staring at Keiichiro solemnly. I knew Ryou wouldn't act like that if he felt that there was certainly something more Keiichiro was hinting at. Maybe he was worried that Keiichiro had stronger feelings towards Anastasia. It shouldn't have mattered in the end, though, because Keiichiro would never abandon the Mew project.

"What do you think, Zakuro-san?" inquired Keiichiro, regarding me with amicability. Pudding turned her attention to me as well. "Do you think she's my type?"

It seemed to be a bold, daring question. Although his facial expression was gentle and teasing, there was something in his dark gray eyes that was challenging me.

While I spoke, I could feel Ryou's icy blue eyes burning into my head. "That should be of your concern," I answered. "If you're asking me whether she's your type or not, then it indicates to me that you're quite unsure your feelings for her."

"Aw come on, Zakuro onee-chan!" cried Pudding, but Keiichiro never looked away from me. "He's just teasing! Of course he likes Anastasia like _that_. You don't have to be so serious all the time!"

"No, Zakuro-san is right," said Keiichiro. "I am unsure." Pudding gazed at him with confusion, but kept quiet.

Rising, he slid the rest of the charts and writing utensils into the satchel and closed it. He walked towards the back, opening the door.

Ryou, Pudding and I had come together absent-mindedly, staring back at him.

He then paused. Slowly, he looked over his shoulder, his face void of the mischievousness two minutes before.

Before heading back inside, he confirmed, "But there is a spark." And with that, he was gone in a flash before Ryou and I had any time to properly process his words.

"I knew it!" exclaimed Pudding merrily, bouncing about with Masha repeating her words. "I told you guys so! Wait till I tell the others!"

"Hey," chided Ryou, snapping out of his thoughts. "You. Washcloth. Now." He gestured towards the abandoned, polka-dotted washcloth that Pudding had left behind on the table. Twirling around, she started humming while cleaning.

"And you," he directed at me. "It's a probably a mess inside with Lettuce clumsily serving all the customers while Mint's doing nothing except drinking tea."

I nodded. "I'll make sure Mint's working and everything is fine." My words did nothing to change the grave expression on his face.

I still felt his penetrating gaze lingering on me as I returned to the café.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I've always wanted to see Ryou's interactions with the rest of the Mews (as he mostly teased Ichigo). I really wish his relationship with Mint and Pudding was developed further, as I kind of saw him as a big brother to them both xD So I tried to include tidbits of what I think he'd be like around them.**

**To ADdude: Thanks a ton! Your reviews are a delight to me! I enjoy hearing feedback from other Tokyo Mew Mew fans.**

**To Guest: Well, here's another update, but chapter 5 will take a bit longer, so we'll see how it goes. Chapter 4 was published this fast because I'm always halfway done the next chapter when I publish the current chapter on Fanfiction. However, chapter 4 was going to be very long and it seemed best if I cut it into two chapters instead of smushing it all into one. **

**To Soccer-Geek: Thank you for reading! I wish to explore Keiichiro's character more and was inspired to write this because of his mysteriousness. I also plan on exploring Zakuro's past. I put up the M rating just to be safe because at the time, I planned to portray Zakuro's darkness and Keiichiro's experience together in one future scene. I've already planned out the rest of the chapters, but I'm still debating whether it would be appropriate or not to include this particular scene in. **

**Chapter 5 will be entitled "Clash at the Grand Ball"-just to drop in a little suspense here ;)**

**Thanks for reading and until next chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: As promised, another update!**

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER FIVE: CLASH AT THE GRAND BALL<strong>

I could feel Ryou's eyes watching me from afar while I worked. I did my best to ignore it. Usually, ignoring people was one of my talents. It had come to me easily after working in the film industry. Not all critics would warm up to your performance, especially when it was supposed to be your breakthrough. But this was Ryou. He had a knack for being intimidating.

Every now and then he would intervene and check up on how we were doing. When Pudding distracted Mint and Lettuce from working to catch them up with Keiichiro's personal life, Ryou would tell them to get back to work. But that didn't stop them from sneaking a whisper or two while they passed each other with their hands full of plates and baked goods.

Maybe he was worried that Keiichiro would leave him for Anastasia. Then, he would have to complete the second Mew project on his own with a lack of moral support and encouragement. Not to mention, Keiichiro was probably the one making sure his health was not jeopardized. Knowing Ryou, he's probably cut his spending on the medicine he needed in order to finish the Mew project thoroughly. Somehow, I wasn't busying that excuse though.

To be honest, I didn't know how to handle the secret Keiichiro had told me. He had told me when he wasn't allowed to, but I didn't see why he had to burden me with the truth like that even when I was the leader of the Mew Mews now. On the other hand, I felt a little guilty around him, wishing I could do more to lessen his workload. But I wasn't a science geek. I was an entertainer. If the other Mews learnt his secret, they would be utterly devastated.

Speaking of the Mews, they found some time to bother me on whether or not I would be attending the ball, especially Mint. "Don't you think it would be nice to go out and have fun in style, onee-sama?" she would repeat. Apparently my glares needed to me more convincing.

It was six o'clock in the evening when Ryou called it a day. I knew I would have to stay behind and clean up, but my instincts warned me that Ryou wasn't exactly going to leave me alone. His icy stares were worse than being interrogated.

Normally, I had no trouble at all reading faces and figuring out what people were actually thinking, the exceptions being Ryou and Keiichiro. The former was good at masking his emotions, appearing stoic, so it was difficult to decipher anything at all from him while the latter covered up his true intentions and feelings with what seemed like genuine kindness and sympathy. As a master of ensuring my facial expressions didn't reveal anything about my thoughts, I had expected to be able to relate to Ryou and Keiichiro with some understanding. However, it looked like reading their faces was not going to lead me anywhere. Ryou deflected your questions with one of his own to throw you off. He must have acquired that ability from his mentor. Keiichiro would divert you with his charm.

This time, I decided not to start with the dishes first. Instead, I would sweep the sleek floor in the main room. That way, Keiichiro could go into the kitchen, get whatever he needed, and head downstairs to assist Ryou. After this morning, I didn't think it was beneficial for me to have another rendezvous with him in the café where I couldn't be entirely positive that the situation would play out professionally. Keiichiro would pretend to be nice, but I would be stiff and cold towards him, creating a tense atmosphere. Then he would do something that I would mistake for a flirtation and awkwardness would follow.

I admitted that the mere mention of Anastasia's name was annoying me. What made it worse was that I didn't know her. I didn't know what Keiichiro looked for in a girl besides Rei. Back then, I had assumed Rei and Keiichiro were fit for each other. At least, he showed a rare moment of vulnerability and passion for me to know that he sincerely cared for her. From first glance, Anastasia looked nothing like Rei, nor acted any similar. The only thing they had in common was being tall and beautiful. So, under different circumstances, maybe I would stand a chance with Keiichiro.

"You missed a spot," a familiar voice said, on cue. I didn't have to strain my neck to know that Ryou was standing a few feet behind me, his eyes watching my every move. Just in time to knock some sense into me and forget about dating his guardian. "To your left, near that table."

Guided by his instructions, I mopped the dirt away. Straightening up, I turned around, the mop still gripped in my hand. There it was again. The same icy blue eyes staring back at me. I couldn't even describe his gaze as calculating because that was not what he was doing. He seemed to wait for me to drop a hint or some sort of clue that would give him a confirmation of a hunch of his.

I smiled, but it wasn't filled with any humor. "I'd think you have better things to do than watching a celebrity labour away in a small café."

He didn't reply instantly, but when he did, his tone didn't match his eyes. "Are you sure you're not attending the ball?" he inquired. "I thought Mint would've annoyed you into attending by now."

"I don't see a point in going. I don't know the host at all."

He raised an eyebrow, half-smiling, but it was void of any light-heartedness that had crept into his voice. "Haven't you gone to awards' shows or backstage actor parties before?"

"And if I have?"

"Then what's the difference between that and the ball? You've commingled with strangers before."

"Not exactly," I replied, and it was the truth. I didn't have many celebrity friends. And with the amicable celebrities I have encountered, I only played nice with them. "You haven't succeeded in changing my mind. Why do you ask?"

"Anastasia needs to know how much food to order," he responded dully. "So she's asking everyone to confirm their invitations."

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, I'm not planning on going," I affirmed.

My statement earned me another long look. I did not back down.

Finally, he shrugged. "Whatever. The address is posted on the kitchen fridge in case you change your mind."

I didn't resume mopping until I was sure he was gone.

Before putting the cleaning equipment away, I paused in front of the white refrigerator. Ryou hadn't been lying. Someone had scrawled the address of the banquet hall on the white slip of paper pinned to the fridge using a plain, black magnet. It was as tempting as a eating a chocolate sundae on a warm summer's day.

_Why am I still contemplating this? I already said I wouldn't be going_, I thought. _So why am I here staring at the address? _

Damn. Maybe Ryou really did have some sort of superpower like we did. He didn't have to persuade someone to do something, only hint at it briefly. He had dropped the hook and now I was the fish deciding whether to fall for it. There had to be some sort of trick to this. Ordinarily, Ryou wouldn't have cared at all if I had declined the invitation.

Unless he's testing a theory of his.

I closed my eyes and felt a tinge of regret.

I had now made up my mind.

I was going to risk it and take the bait.

**…**

I needed to figure out what was on Ryou's hidden agenda, so I had come up with a good excuse to satisfy the other Mew Mews: I had been debating coming along because I had had an important modelling session planned to appear on a cover of a famous fashion magazine, but it got cancelled at the last minute because the photographer caught the flu. At least, Pudding would buy the lie, and that would be enough for Lettuce to be convinced and Mint would be overwhelmed with happiness to care.

So that was how I found myself standing in the middle of a spacious ballroom. My bangs had been clipped back so that it would not get in the way of my mascara and the light amount of lavender eye-shadow. The backless, gold dress I had worn once to a gala was tighter than before, but that worked in my favour to emphasize my curves. Throw in a pair of matching, glittery heels and I could've walked on a red carpet.

The room was divided into two. The first half consisted of several tables for guests to sit at. Each table had eight tall chairs and a silver tablecloth. Light gray napkins were neatly folded and placed into the transparent wine glasses. Pitchers of water and milk-white tea cups were scattered about. The second half of the room was almost empty except for a grand staircase leading down. A few couples had already started dancing on the wooden floors. There was a large chandelier hanging from the high ceiling, light glinting off the diamond-shaped crystals.

"I didn't think you'd make it," Ryou remarked, walking beside me. He was dressed in a black suit with a teal-blue tie that brought out the color in his eyes. He looked clean and crisp. With a bit of hair gel to tame his hair, maybe he could've passed for a model himself. Although he wasn't my type, I had to admit, he did look cute. "Maybe I have a shot at a good dance partner this time."

I half-smiled. "Really? Who did you bring as your last date?"

The smirk disappeared off of his face. "Ichigo," he muttered, recalling a terrible memory. "She stepped on my foot last time."

I laughed, but Ryou didn't look as amused. "That's so like her. But Mint's not a bad dancer, you know."

"I can picture her stepping on my foot _purposefully_," he noted skeptically. He sighed. "And that's going to hurt worse than what Ichigo did."

"Pudding has some dance experience from performing at parks," I pointed out.

He grimaced. "Her definition of dancing doesn't match with mine."

"Well, I don't think Lettuce would be as bad dancer partners as them."

He raised his eyebrows at me in surprise and stared at me questioningly. "Why would she want to dance with her boss?"

The teasing smile left my face. Ryou seriously couldn't be as dense as Aoyama.

"Anyways, she'll be popular with the other boys here," he said absent-mindedly, turning his head away in an aloof manner. "I can't compete with them."

Taken at face-value, one might assume that Ryou was oblivious to Lettuce's advances and a tad jealous of her potential suitors. But I knew Ryou and my previous doubts had been cleared. He sensed that Lettuce wanted more from him than friendship—she had already dropped a lot of signs—yet he couldn't give it to her. He couldn't promise to give her his time and affection so easily with five years of his life left. He couldn't bring himself to do it. It was why he had let Ichigo go with Aoyama and supressed his own feelings for her. Ryou didn't want to pursue love if it was unfair for the other person. Sometimes I thought that Ryou was secretly a bit glad that Ichigo had been the one who had gotten away.

"Then just give her this one night," I said, interrupting his thoughts. Widening his eyes, he whirled his head around to look back at me. "Life's too short to waste, right?"

His shoulders relaxed after a while, but I suspected he knew that I had learnt his secret somehow. "I still don't think she wants to dance with me," he stated.

Looking past him, I glimpsed the other young men who had arrived. None of them held the maturity and sensitivity that Ryou had. Instead, they all appeared naïve and goofy.

My gaze returned to him. "I'd have to say, the other guys have got nothing on you, Shirogane."

"So is the famous Zakuro Fujiwara calling me attractive?" The smirk returned to his face.

"Careful now, Shirogane," I warned. "Don't be looking for more flattery from a wolf."

He chuckled. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time."

We conversed for some time longer about his progress with the second Mew project and my opinion on Masha's technological improvements. Around us, guests began to pile in and swarm the tables. They started gossiping about Lady Virginia's family and her husband's political future. I couldn't have cared less, yet when Anastasia was brought up once or twice, I wished I was closer to fully hear about what was going on in her personal life.

After some time, the rest of the Mews showed up on the scene. They had been ecstatic to see me.

Mint was wearing a strapless, sapphire-blue flare dress that had a black bow wrapped around her tiny waist. The first layer of bottom portion of her dress was made entirely of lace while the layer beneath it was silky material. She wore her short, wavy hair out for the occasion and cherry-red lipstick had been applied to her thin lips. To finish off her look, she had slipped into matching flats that had little, snow-white bows on them. Any girl would have envied how gorgeously sophisticated she looked.

Beside her, Lettuce stood timidly in a long-sleeved, dark green chiffon dress that dangled to her knees. It had a plunging V-neck that led to a gathered wrap in the middle and slight ruffles at the hem. She had her hair out as well, but it was straightened. She had switched her glasses for some contacts, but the only make-up she had on was mascara to lengthen her lashes. Lettuce looked stunning, and I could see I wasn't the only one who had noticed, for Ryou was staring at her with an unreadable expression that I guessed was admiration.

In front of them, Pudding was frantically looking back and forth as guests passed in awe. The crown section of her hair was tied back and her blonde hair fell into neat little ringlets. There were remnants of glossy pink lip gloss that I was sure Lettuce had forcibly applied to her mouth. She had borrowed an off-the-shoulder, sunflower-yellow dress from Mint's endless wardrobe that reflected her cheerfulness. A narrow black belt circled her tiny waistline. She stood a bit taller in her sandals. It was unfortunate that neither Tart nor Yuebin was present, or they would've swept her off her feet.

"Ladies," Ryou acknowledged, tipping his head forward. "All of you look lovely." That was the closest to a compliment we were ever going to get from him.

"Shouldn't we all sit down at a table?" inquired Lettuce, her cheeks reddening when Ryou caught her inspecting him. "They're filling up fast."

"Yeah," piped Mint, folding her arms and eyeing the other guests. "I don't want to look like a peasant standing up. Plus, my feet will get sore."

"What about Akasaka onii-san?" demanded Pudding, jerking her head up at Ryou. "Did he go to the washroom or something?"

The boy genius shrugged nonchalantly. "I haven't seen him."

"What?!"

"Anastasia had offered to give Keiichiro a limo ride here, but when I went outside of the café, he wasn't there," he notified us. "The butler didn't want to wait longer, so I took his place in the limo to get here. He's probably in his car right now driving towards this place."

"That doesn't sound like Akasaka-san," Lettuce pointed out warily. "Do you think he's okay?"

"Most likely he had to drop off the cake he made for the party beforehand. He's probably around here somewhere."

"Now that you mention it, I didn't see a red car in the parking lot when we got here," remarked Mint.

"Do you know what this means?" demanded Pudding, adopting a detective stance.

"No," everyone replied simultaneously.

Pudding went starry-eyed now. "It means Keiichiro has a surprise planned for us!"

Lettuce blinked. "Eh?"

"A surprise?" repeated Mint. I had been expecting something more outrageous from the girl, but I guess she had grown out of that.

"I don't like surprises," responded Ryou irritably, looking away.

"That's a shocker," muttered Mint.

"But that does seem like something Akasaka-san would do," mused Lettuce. She turned to me. "Don't you think so, Zakuro-san?"

I gazed down at her. She was right. It wasn't out of the picture.

"And do you know what that surprise is?" pressed Pudding.

"I don't think I want to know," Mint countered. The blonde-haired girl ignored her.

Out of nowhere, Pudding pulled out an old-fashioned camera that had a neck strap attached to it. Suddenly, she snapped a photograph of all of us. The blinding flash made Ryou cringe and Mint gasp.

"Quit that!" snapped Ryou, clearly unimpressed with Pudding's behaviour.

"That was not okay at all!" exclaimed Mint crossly. "I wasn't prepared to take a picture! Next time, give me a heads-up!"

"Pudding-chan, what are you doing exactly?" questioned Lettuce while I remained silent.

"Getting myself ready to take a photo of Akasaka onii-san's surprise!" quipped Pudding enthusiastically.

All of us blinked repeatedly in confusion. "Huh?" chimed Mint and Lettuce together.

"Akasaka-san is a magician!" she claimed.

"That is the single most ridiculous thing I have ever heard," commented Mint. Ryou put a hand across his forehead and eyes and sighed. "This is what I get for making a child apart of a team of superheroes."

"Think about it!" reasoned Pudding. "How would he be able to transport himself here without going into that limo or using his own car?"

"Taking the bus?" suggested Mint. "He could've run out of gas or he may be on his way here right now."

"Nope," rejected Pudding. "Anastasia-san has already asked him to bake a cake for the party and I see no musicians or performers, which means she asked him to entertain the guests with a magic show!"

"So he teleported here and is planning to surprise us with card tricks?" retorted Ryou. "_Right… _and I'm the Blue Knight."

"That theory was perfect!" countered Pudding in front of him.

"Except for the part that I wasn't actually the Blue Knight," responded Ryou, resting his hands on his hips. "Give it a rest, will you?"

"But he has to be a magician!" she cried.

"Don't you think Shirogane-san would have known if Akasaka-san was magician, Pudding-chan?" queried Lettuce.

"He doesn't know because Akasaka-san works part-time as a magician secretly!" declared Pudding. "Maybe some of that money he makes goes towards your experimenting!"

"I can confirm it doesn't," dismissed Ryou. "Now quiet down—people are staring. You're going to get us kicked out." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see he was correct. A handful of guests were glowering at the amount of noise coming from us.

"Fine—but don't come apologizing to me when it turns out my theory is right," she grumbled, walking away from Ryou.

All of us were about to take our seats when the lights dimmed. We all paused and turned in the direction of the staircase. The rest of the guests were already sitting down and the room had become deadly quiet.

"What's going on?" whispered Mint.

"Is it the magic show?" wondered Pudding.

"The host of the party is going to introduce themselves," responded Lettuce.

"In this case, it would be Lady Virginia," added Ryou.

As if on cue, Lady Virginia made her appearance in a sleeveless, crimson-red gown. Her hair was curled and her hands were covered with long, milk-white gloves. "What if she's a magician, too?" mumbled Pudding.

"Then why isn't she entertaining the guests?" Mint shot back. Pudding sulked.

"Welcome!" she proclaimed, waving her hands dramatically. Behind her was her husband in a white tuxedo. "I would like to thank you all for coming to celebrate a milestone in my husband's career." She gestured towards the man who had slowly come beside her.

"Greetings to everyone," he announced. "I have invited all of you today to commemorate my new position as a Foreign Affairs minister. I would personally like to thank the mayor of Tokyo, who is here in the audience with us, for allowing us to rent this historical hall." He paused for everyone to clap.

"Where's the mayor?" asked Pudding, looking about.

"Not now," nudged Lettuce.

"To get this party officially started, I am pleased to announce that my daughter, Anastasia Grace, accompanied by a close friend of ours, Keiichiro Akasaka." There was a bigger applause this time, with everyone standing up in anticipation of Anastasia.

"Told you there's no magic show," pointed out Mint.

"He still might do magic tricks!" retorted Pudding.

"Shh!" silenced Lettuce.

The spotlight now centered on a couple at the bottom of the staircase, hand-in-hand. Anastasia wore a strapless, scarlet gown. It was simple, but on her, it was magnificent. Sections of her hair had been clipped. She could definitely pull off the smoky-eye makeup. "She's so pretty," observed Lettuce.

"Yeah, she's one of those girls who can wear anything," said Mint sourly.

"But look at Akasaka-san! He looks handsome!"

Keiichiro was wearing a black tuxedo with a red tie and a matching napkin creased neatly in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. He was smiling at Anastasia. My heart thumped faster in my chest as I switched my attention back onto him. Pudding was not wrong. Even if it had been just a change of outfits, Keiichiro looked different.

My eyes narrowed ever so slightly as he led her to the centre of the room and spun her around. There must have been a stereo set somewhere because classical music was playing in the background. It didn't help that Ryou started to study me, but I remained calm and watched on as the two danced effortlessly.

"They're so good!" gushed Pudding.

"Anastasia's all right," huffed Mint. "Still no match for Zakuro onee-sama and I."

"Say what you want about Anastasia, but you can't deny the fact that Akasaka-san is a skilled dancer," stated Lettuce.

Ryou half-smiled. "Where do you think I've picked up my moves from?"

When the music slowed, they both twirled around so that they faced the audience and then bowed. Numerous calls for an encore followed and there was a standing ovation for the pair.

"And now, the floor is open to everyone!" declared Lady Virginia. "We hope you have a memorable night and thank you for your stay."

People shifted in their chairs and rose around us. They started to pool into the floor and dance.

"See, he's not a magician," concluded Mint.

Pudding frowned, but surged through the crowd to get to the buffet table.

"She'll be fine," I reasoned before Lettuce could go after her.

"Well, Zakuro onee-sama and I are going to get ourselves dance partners," announced Mint.

"Is that so?" Ryou mused. He smiled at Lettuce now. "I guess that leaves the two of us." He offered his hand courteously. "May I have this dance?"

Lettuce blushed furiously, but accepted it. I watched as the two made their way past everyone else and disappeared in the throng.

"I think he'll be a good partner," said Mint, making her way to a tall, good-looking man. She curtsied, introducing herself before taking his hand.

I stayed behind, feeling out of place. I didn't want to dance with a stranger like Mint. I wasn't as casual like that, so I stood awkwardly, wondering what to do.

"My," a voice murmured in my ear. "Your elegance is to be envied, Zakuro-san." Whirling around, I saw Keiichiro standing in front of me. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

"What are you doing here?" I asked, trying to ignore his compliment, but it was becoming harder for me to resist them. I was succumbing to his charms now and I didn't like it one bit. "Shouldn't you be dancing with the politician's daughter?"

He chuckled, glancing over my shoulder. "She's busy meeting with guests, so I have some time on my hands." His eyes flickered back to me. "Would you like to dance?"

I blinked. To be honest, I hadn't expected him to make a move like that, but he was probably going to use me until Anastasia was free. After all, everyone else was busy dancing or eating.

"All right, but only for a little while," I responded, taking up his offer.

Smiling, he took a hold of my hand and twirled me onto the dance floor for some old-fashioned ballroom dancing. I had no trouble adjusting to his speed because I had taken several dance lessons myself when I had been younger.

From my peripheral vision, I spotted Ryou spiralling Lettuce around. He was smiling down at her and she looked content herself to be caught in his arms. The top of her cheeks flushed red when he adjusted his position so that there was less space between them. Now, their dancing didn't seem as sloppy and Ryou's footwork appeared smoother. Although Lettuce was taking it as a sign that Ryou wanted to get closer to her, in actuality, he only wanted to make their dancing easier. It was going to take some time before Ryou could open up to her.

I returned my eyes to Keiichiro. "Lettuce and Ryou look happy," I mused.

"She's good for Ryou," he responded, slipping one hand above my waist to rest my hand on. His other hand was entwined with mine. "She's a better fit for him than Ichigo."

"Oh?" It was strange to me that Keiichiro approved of Lettuce more than Ichigo when he had spent more time getting to know the latter.

He looked ahead. "Ichigo never cared for Ryou the way he had loved her. From the start, she had always been Aoyama-san's girl."

"I think Ryou never loved Ichigo at all," I disagreed. Gazing down at me, he looked surprised by my small outburst. "I mean, Ryou cared for Ichigo, but I think love is too strong a word to characterize his feelings towards her. He knew from the beginning that he couldn't woo her over. He looked out for her, but he never pursued her. He controlled himself." I hesitated before moving on under his watchful gray eyes that I wanted to get lost in. _Ryou sounds like me at the moment. _"It's the opposite with Lettuce. He doesn't care if he's vulnerable around her—and he doesn't realize he is either. He seems like himself, don't you think? Love makes you unguarded."

Keiichiro beamed. "Lettuce brought out the old Ryou—the one I remember as a curious boy who didn't fit in with his peers. After becoming a teenager, he stopped being himself. When Lettuce is there, he no longer wears that mask. He's hardened so much after the death of his parents. The Mew project hasn't made the situation any better, yet he's slowly becoming himself. I couldn't bear watching him torture himself watching Aoyama and Ichigo together."

That tugged on a heartstring. Keiichiro truly cared for Ryou. The fact that he openly expressed his emotions regarding the brains behind the Mew project showed that he was very close to the boy. I knew that if, by some odd chance, I was going to pursue Keiichiro, then I would have to deal with Ryou first.

"And what about you, Zakuro-san?" he inquired. "Have you ever loved anyone before?" He was teasing, but it sparked painful memories.

"I…I have," I finally spoke. "But…it didn't turn out well."

"I see." The tongue-in-cheek tone was gone. His grip on my fingers tightened.

"What do you think of Anastasia?" I countered boldly.

His smile returned. "I think I've already answered two days ago to Pudding."

"So you want to date her?"

Keiichiro laughed. "I don't think that's possible with her lifestyle and schedule. I can't leave Ryou either."

"But if you had the chance—and if circumstances were different—would you?" I persisted.

His eyes locked with mine. "Hmm…," he murmured. "If circumstances were different…" Leaning closer, he reached for the clip holding back my bangs, but was interrupted by Ryou.

"Keiichiro! Zakuro!" called Ryou. He froze when he saw Keiichiro's pale fingers near my head.

"What is it, Ryou?" asked Keiichiro, straightening up. He removed his hand from my hair.

It took a couple of seconds for Ryou to regain his train of thought. "There was a clash with the security guards outside. Pudding went to check it out and saw some sort of Chimera. You and I need to clear the hall—or at least, contain these people somewhere." He looked over at me. "You need to help the others."

Nodding, I pulled away from Keiichiro's arms and broke out into a run. When I passed Ryou, I felt cool gaze again. He had witnessed the close contact between Keiichiro and I and it seemed he didn't approve of it.

I shook my head. This was no time to be thinking about Ryou or Keiichiro.

Once I exited the building, I transformed myself into my Mew form. Then, I rushed past the rosebushes lining up the stone pathway. There was a chill in the air that hadn't been there before. Thanks to my Grey Wolf DNA, I was able to adjust my eyes to the dark quickly. Hopefully the other Mews wouldn't be at a disadvantage under the change of scenery.

When I reached the bottom, I could make out the silhouettes of the other Mews under the silver moonlight.

"He's back!" shouted Mint, her bow clutched firmly in one hand. Just above us was the same cloaked figure that had attacked the tree in the park. This time, the hood of the cloak was pulled over his head, but his dark purple eyes glowed eerily in the pitch-blackness of the night. If I squinted closely, I could make out the faint outline of his mouth. He was leering at us.

"Come on, Mew Mews!" I exclaimed. "We need to get rid of him now. This is our only chance, so we better not waste it."

There was a low laugh from our opponent. It was a sickening, raspy sound that caught our attention. He levitated closer to ground now.

"What makes you think you can stop us?" he posed menacingly.

"_Us?_" echoed Pudding, bamboozled. "I only see one of you!"

"Who are you exactly?" cried Lettuce, holding her hands together in front of her chest.

"My name is Meridian," he replied. "But you may call me the Shadow of the Sea."

"What do you want?!" yelled Mint.

"I want to take back what was originally ours," he hissed, his eyes darkening rapidly. "You humans have taken both of them away—but they were meant to belong to us!"

"Girls, what's going on?!" shouted Ryou, reaching the bottom in time. He did a double-take when he saw Meridian hovering.

"If you can't give them back to us willingly, then I suppose force is necessary!" Raising an outstretched hand, he curled his fingers inward in our direction. Sensing immediate danger, I summoned out my purple whip, twisting it around on my fingers.

Leaping into the air, I raised the weapon in the air. "Ribbon ZaCross Pure!" I waved around the whip to awaken the energy within the weapon before slashing it downwards to curb Meridian's powerful attack.

Pudding managed to jump backwards and avoid getting entangled in the crossing of our attacks, yet Lettuce and Mint were frozen in their places, overwhelmed by fear. "Lettuce! Mint!" yelled Ryou, running towards them. He leapt off the earth and collided into them, trying to shield them from the massive energy storm that resulted from the combination of contaminated Blue Aqua and my own Mew energy.

"Shirogane-san!" screamed Lettuce, her body tumbling into Mint's from the impact of Ryou's weight against her delicate physique.

"What's happening?!" shrieked Mint, almost falling on a rosebush. There was a whirlwind of energy, lifting the dirt off the earth. It died down as swiftly as I had landed on my feet beside a helpless Mint.

"Next time, I will bring a member of my army!" screeched Meridian, cutting through the air with his hand.

"He's gone!" bawled Pudding, stomping her foot stubbornly.

"Shirogane-san, are you hurt?" inquired Lettuce gently as Ryou rested on his knees before her. She gasped when she saw a cut through the material of the pant leg.

"It's fine, just a minor injury," he assured her. "Are you and Mint all right?"

"I'm okay," confirmed Mint as I slid my right arm beneath her left and brought her up to her feet. I shifted her weight against mine to make it easier for her to walk. "No bruises or broken limbs."

"I wonder what Meridian was talking about when he said he wanted two things from us," commented Lettuce.

I gazed over my shoulder at the grand hall behind us and narrowed my eyes. The others began to assist Ryou and ponder at Meridian's reappearance.

There had to be a reason why Meridian had chosen this area tonight.

And I was positive he wasn't going after the Mew Mews, but someone else.

It was time to talk to Ryou about Keiichiro.

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**

**To ADdude: You will see more of Pudding interact with the others-in fact, I want to include all the Mews' interactions. You will see them a lot in later chapters :) I really love their team dynamic and I think it helps shape the story better and develop the environment theme :)**

**To Guest: You can expect an update once every two weeks at the latest :) Normally I update once per week but it depends. **

**Anyways, I'm looking forward to the next chapter ^_^ Until then!**


End file.
